Crowning

She may have spent the past year as a national figure, but last Saturday night Michaela Gagne was right where she wants to be.

Fall River.

The 24-year-old was passing along the title of Miss Massachusetts during the statewide scholarship pageant at the Jackson Arts Center at Bristol Community College. The title went to Valerie Amaral, Miss North Shore. Gagne presented the crown.

"I'm still a Fall River girl," Gagne said afterward. "I was proud to stand on the Miss America stage and say that I'm from Fall River.

"Now I hope that I can help young girls in this city who might see me as a role model. They should know that they have the capability to be anything they want to be."

Another group Gagne has been reaching out to are young people with pacemakers and Internal Cardiac Defibrillators. Gagne has been living — and succeeding — with an ICD since age 17.

"One of the most memorable moments of the last year was being able to attend Pace Camp in New Hampshire," she says. "It was for children and teens with pacemakers and ICDs. I was able to act as a role model for them and let them know that they can accomplish so much. It may be a setback but don't let it define you.

"It's not every day when a 5-year-old with a pacemaker exclaims 'Cool! Miss Massachusetts has a heart problem too!'"

But Gagne has reached adults as well.

"I was reading USA Today a few days before the national Miss America competition and there was an article about a woman who had the courage to have a device implanted for her heart based upon my story. She thanked me for saving her life."

Gagne will continue to work for her cause. She is the national spokesperson for three organizations — American Heart Association, Parent Heartwatch, and Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome Foundation — and one international group, Heartbeat International in Tampa, Fla.

Part of Gagne's involvement with the American Heart Association is with the "Go Red For Women" campaign, which acknowledges that heart disease is the number one killer of women, and encourages them to be more empowered to lead a healthy life.

Gagne is also a chairwoman for the Heartscreen America Advocacy Board in Andover. That organization provides easy and inexpensive heart screening for anyone who wants to get checked. Gagne is promoting the importance of the test, and she lets people know that it's simple and painless.

Gagne also devotes her time and talents to the St. Vincent's Home in Fall River where she has taught for four years, two years as an art teacher.

"Being able to talk to people about heart disorders is really phenomenal," Gagne says. "Children and women with heart conditions are often overlooked. It's not an old man's disease."

But with all the glamour and good work, the schedule of Miss Mass is a demanding one.

"The last year has been time consuming," she says. "But it's worth it when you see what you can do with it."

Saturday night's pageant included a five-minute video presentation looking back at the experiences of Gagne's year-long run, and ample thanks for those who made it such a memorable stretch. Gagne also gave a notable performance of "Bye, Bye Blackbird," the song she sang at the Miss America pageant.

"Passing along the crown was a bittersweet experience, but it's time to move on to the next part of my life," she says.

"I'm a hometown girl. I want to travel a lot but I want to stay in Fall River."

Gagne isn't the only Fall River native to wear the Miss Mass crown — Melissa Silva did so in 2003.

Another girl from the Fall River area on the stage that night was Jillian Soares of Somerset. Soares received recognition for being the Most Talented Non-Finalist. And she proved it when she gave a stellar rendition of "Since I Don't Have You," from "Grease."

Soares will attend the Hart School of Music at Hartford University to study Musical Theatre.

But ultimately the night belonged to Amaral, an Acushnet resident and a senior at UMass-Dartmouth majoring in English/political science.

"This is a dream come true," Amaral said. "I'm glad that my family was here to share this opportunity."

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